Council can’t persuade Aboriginal group to lead renaming of Northcote’s Batman Park

A MELBOURNE council has admitted it couldn’t convince an ­Aboriginal organisation to take the lead in a push to strip the name of Melbourne pioneer John Batman from a park.

Ian Hunter, pictured with Cr Trent McCarthy in Batman Park, claims he was not consulted and will take legal action if the council continues. Picture: Adam Elwood.

A LOCAL council has admitted it couldn’t convince an ­Aboriginal organisation to take the lead in a push to strip the name of Melbourne pioneer John Batman from a park.

The City of Darebin had wanted the Wurundjeri Council to be “authorisers and leaders” of the project to rename Northcote’s Batman Park. “This reflected council’s desire to establish a respectful model which gave traditional owners the power to steer the project and make higher-level decisions,” its report said.

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The Darebin council’s plan to rename Batman Park have hit a snag.

The Wurundjeri Council initially pushed the change, but later “indicated unpreparedness to take the project lead and that its involvement would be premised only on Darebin council taking the lead role, and that this be made clear in all public communications”.

The Greens-dominated Darebin council has voted to rename the park Gumbri Park.

Ian Hunter, whose late mother was Jessie “Gumbri” Hunter, claims he was not consulted and will take legal action if the council continues.

Darebin says his nephew, a Wurundjeri Council member, had approved using the name.

Darebin will now lodge the new name with the Office of Geographic Names.

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